EUROPEAN MASTERS INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS - Day 1 & 2

By Alan Ramage

EUROPEAN MASTERS INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS - DAY1

The star of the first day’s competition in Madrid was Phyllis Hands (Motherwell) who took the Bronze medal in the F60 3000m. Taking the race by the scruff of the neck she lead a group of four through half way before a German broke clear. Phyllis stayed focussed, and although dropped out of the medal positions, she rallied in the last few laps of the race to get back into the medal winning position finishing in a time of 13mins 35.40secs, narrowly missing gold and silver to the Italian and German athlete.

In the other 3000m races, Sharyn Ramage (Edinburgh) finished 12th in the F55 race with a time of 13mins 58.85secs. The F50 race saw Edinburgh clubmate Sue Ridley finish in 6th place with a time of 11mins 45.97secs, after losing time at the start following some confusion with the recall gun. Finally in the F35 race, Jacqueline Etherington (Cambuslang), who was omitted from yesterday’s preview (apologies Jacqueline), finished 9th in what was a very tactical race in the early stages, finishing in 11mins 06.98secs.

In the men’s Long Jump, James Smith Motherwell finished 6th with a distance of 3m 89cm,

Back on the track Bob Douglas qualified for the semi-finals, finishing 3rd in his heat of the M60 400m with a time of 64.68secs. In the semi-finals later in the evening he finished 4th in a time of 63.65secs, narrowly missing out in a place in the final. William Skinner Aberdeen finished 6th in his M55 400m heat in a time of 67.18secs.

EUROPEAN MASTERS INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS - DAY 2 (MORNING)

Kerry-Liam Wilson (Cambuslang) came agonisingly close to a medal in the M45 3000m this morning, finishing 4th in a time of 9mins 39.72secs. In a race dominated by the Spaniards Kerry missed out by a mere second, having been in the mix for the majority of the race.

In the M50s race, Brian Scally (Shettleston) finished 10th with a time of 9mins 54.28secs whilst Chris Upson (Cambuslang), competing in his 1000th race of his career, finished 20th in a time of 10mins 16.39secs.

This evening sees the start of the 60m races with the semi finals running on to as late as 23.12hrs !!

EUROPEAN MASTERS INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS - DAY 2 (EVENING)

The evening session saw the 200m heats and semi-finals take place. Unfortunately, it was only William Skinner (Aberdeen) who failed to progress to the semi-finals, finishing 7th in the M55s 60m heat in a time of 8.84secs. In the semi-finals, James Smith (Motherwell), narrowly missed out on a place in the eight man final, finishing 5th in his semi-final, but 9th fastest overall, in a time of 9.15secs. In the M60s semi-final, Robert Phin (Springburn), finished 8th with a time of 8.75secs. In the F50 category, Fiona Kerr (Motherwell) finished 6th in her semi-final with a time of 8.98secs, which was 10th fastest overall. It was left to Linzie Marsh (Pitreavie) to round the night off for the Scots, taking to the start line at 22.50hrs, finishing 8th in the F40s semi-final with a time of 8.99secs.

With none of the Scots progressing to the 60m finals, tomorrow's focus will be on the 800m heats with eight Scots down to start.